'Melrose Place': Jessica Lucas on Jo's return, plus trouble ahead for Riley & Jonah

Daphne Zuniga returns to "Melrose Place" as cool, hip photographer Jo this week -- yes, she's still hip and cool, as Zuniga told us at the series premiere -- and she's hard at work.

Photographing "MP"'s resident schoolteacher, Riley Richmond, for a major fashion campaign featuring "real people" -- Don't know any "real people" with a stomach as flat and toned as Riley, but whatever -- Jo will rub sweet Riles the wrong way.

But Jessica Lucas says her character is going to reach a breaking point.

And not a moment too soon, as her seemingly rock solid relationship with good guy Jonah (Michael Rady) is about to go south as well...


Big episode for you this week.
JL: Yes. Jo from the original "Melrose Place" is back and she just kind of pushes Riley to her limit, so Riley actually stands up for herself. It's kind of the first time we've ever seen Riley do that.

So you're getting the bitchy side of Jo, huh?
JL: Yeah! You know, she's pushy. Riley's never [modeled] before, so she shows up and she's trying to pose and it's very awkward. Jo tries to get her to lose her inhibitions and really look at herself as a person. But Riley isn't ready to do that, so she pushes right back, which is great. It's a turning point for the character. In the upcoming episodes, she starts to become a bit stronger. She's sick of people walking over her and that's been fun to play, because she was just a little too passive up to this point.

Does this mean it's time for you to pull Ella (Katie Cassidy)'s hair out?!
JL: I hope so! (Laughs) Yeah, there's definitely something coming up that will make me want to pull Ella's hair out. I'm hoping for the big showdown confrontation. I've yet to read it, but it's something that's going to happen.

So the new, assertive Riley isn't going head-to-head with Ella anytime soon?
JL: Not just yet. Because in this week's episode, Jonah finds out about me kissing Auggie, so that sort of sends our relationship into a downward spiral and bad thing after bad thing keeps happening to us. So, you know, that's the [immediate] focus and Ella kind of plays in a little further down the line.

Yeah, Riley and Jonah are really the nicest, most solid people on "Melrose," but we knew the Riley-Auggie kiss was going to resurface eventually.
JL: Yeah, it's huge and it completely devastates Jonah. They try to work through it, but you'll see them having a lot of issues. He's not such an angel either though!

Does that have anything to do with the arrival of Jenna Dewan's character?
JL: (Laughs) Yes, it may... I mean, he goes to Paramount to meet about his movie, "Living In Reverse," and she's an executive and, like Ella, she's another example of someone who understands his career on a level that Riley doesn't. So they have a connection and, yeah, you'll see what happens.

How long is she sticking around?
JL: Two episodes so far. She's in [hours] 7 and 8. Beyond that, I don't know.

Feels as though there's a big break up ahead.
JL: Well, yeah, there's a lot of drama and heartbreak coming up for Riley. I think she's going to learn to become a lot more independent and figure out who she is, outside of Jonah.

Any chance we'll see Riley mix it up with Heather Locklear as Amanda Woodward?
JL: Well, we did shoot a big group scene in the courtyard with Heather. She's been amazing on set, just so sweet and really happy to be back and working on the show. She's really funny and down-to-earth. We've had a blast with her. We'll have to see what's next...


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